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I bought my 05 R12GS last week of April, put almost 6,000 miles (9,600km) on it in 5 weeks. I am greatfull that I was stranded 20 min from home and not 2 days away.
Just heard back from the dealer, Fuel Pump controller ordered. Learned about this problem via a google search that landed me here.

When did it happen? Jun 17, 2011
Where were you? Massachusetts, USA
- rider name Gail
- bike details (model and year) 05 R1200GS
- remedy: call a tow truck.
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 0
Riding home from work. Bike died on hwy. Was able to pull over without incident. Called tow truck, delivered bike to the shop, rode away on my K12GT which was at the shop waiting for tires.
- Were there any incidental costs? Nope, I had towing coverage from my insurance co.

Fuel Pump Failure

When did it happen - 24 June 2011
Where - at home
Rider name - nprcarvalho
Bike Details - 06 1200 GS
Remedy - send the bike by truck to BMW Assist
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - I used alternative transport (car) to go to work
Where there any incidental costs - BMW estimate 108€ + VAT + work and the transport by bus to take the bike in Lisbon (+/- 50 km distance)

Add me to the list

When did it happen - 15.00 on Saturday 25/6/2011
Where - Near Amiens, France
Rider name - Brenchleyhibs
Bike Details - September 08 1200 GS
Remedy - Replaced with spare
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - 45 mins by the roadside
Where there any incidental costs - replacement cost of FPC (£85)

I was expecting my "recent" model to have the newer black FPC but no... the old style alloy FPC unit.

Luckily I was out with a group from the forum (Wapping's Wanders) and one of them had an old unit that had failed on them previously. We connected it up and - hey presto! - it worked fine. It took me the remaining 300 miles over the weekend and then through the Eurotunnel and home!

The FPC was covered by my BMW extended warranty but with my £100 excess it wasn't worth claiming. It would have been an entirely different story however, if we hadn't had access to the old spare unit!

Another for the list

When did it happen - 09 july 2011
Where - at home
Rider name - brixtonchris
Bike Details - 05 1200 GS
Remedy - Used my unbreakable Courier bike, Honda CBF500 (08 plate, 61300 miles on clock) to go to BMW battersea and buy a new FPC
How many days/work/holiday did you lose - None, but me GF missed her zumba class, and thats a whole lot of pain right there
Where there any incidental costs -no just the £85.01 for FPC and bus fare for exgirlfiend

Fuel Pump Failure

Hello

After one 1 month of install a new electronical controller it's start to gasoline sniffing after I have filled the tank.
This morning I went back to the dealer and found gasoline in the top of the fuel pump. The new electronical has now something was already in a state of advanced corrosion. After some investigation the appearance of gasoline was found that the fuel pump cover is cracked.

Someone noticed a crack in a fuel tank? What was the material used to repair?

The problem of the first time was not caused by gasoline because there was no vestige of the same.

When - Easter 2008.
Where - Calais, France, having just arrived off the ferry. :-(
Rider name - Rick Sterry.
Bike details - 1200GS 2006 model.
Remedy - fixed under warranty by BMW dealer in Boulogne while I used free loan car.
How many days work/holiday did you lose? - just 1, but had to use car for the rest of the (short) holiday.
Incidental costs? - Happily, none.

Original failure was due to corrosion on the uncoated aluminium heatsink casing creeping under the (newer type) O-ring seal, rather than failure of the seal itself.

I now carry the failed unit as a spare, having ripped out the guts and bypassed it internally - have tested it and it works fine. Even if I don't ever need it, just maybe it might help some other poor sod one day!

Fuel pump controller failure 2006

Bought my 2006 1200 GS back in 2006 and the controller failed at 2500 miles a few months later, luckily I was home as the bike would not start, phoned BMW and they sent out the emergency brake down engineer in large BMW estate car complete with full diagnostics in back of car, the engineer took off the side panel removed the pump cover put his hand in pocket and pulled out a new controller fitted it and started the bike without the need to use any of the diagnostic gear in the car. He told me he had a feeling it would be the controller when he got the call, and in his opinion the fault was caused by water running down between the tank and side cover falling straight through the vents in the top of the pump cover and corroding the controller, he suggested covering the pump when washing the bike which I do, and I also every now and then I paste the controller with wax oil to repel any moisture, touch wood it’s never failed since. The whole event took about 45 minutes from trying to start the bike to the engineer leaving, guess I was lucky.

These figures exclude approximately 35 failures reported from non-UK owners.

The frequency of failures has certainly decreased in 2010/2011, however older bikes not covered by the rather limited recall window are continuing to break down. There have also been some breakdowns of newer bikes or those that have already had the FPC replaced so the redesigned unit is still not 100% reliable.

Cheers
Tim

."For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

"I ride a 2005 1200 GS.I washed the bike three weeks ago,
and tried to start it this morning.It only runs for a couple of seconds,then dies(from fuel starvation).The agent tells me it is definitely the fuel pump regulator which costs R1571.
I am in Johannesburg South Africa.
Regards
Kobus Noeth
SA."

finally happened

- When did it happen? 11sept 2011
- Where were you? Uk heading out to catch ferry to ireland (on drive of home)
- rider name nomadgser
- bike details (model and year) 2008 GSA
- remedy fixed at BMW
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 2days and cancelled holiday to ireland, missed ferry
- Were there any incidental costs? around £129 to be replaced. Having to claim £400 on travel cancellations (ferry / hotels) with travel insurance
- 1 unhappy gser
-2 unhappy Harley riders

Though my bike has got me all round europe for over a year totalling 15000 miles with out any glitch. So not all bad

Happened to me yesterday. Although mine's not a UK bike, at the end of the day they all come from the same place, anyway I thought I'd let you know.

I had traveled from Gib to the top of sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain. On the way down we stopped at the 'Galp' petrol station to fill up. I went to start the bike, it started then quickly cut out. All attempts to start it proved fruitless as it was not firing at all.
I changed the FPC and on taking the old one out I could see that it was in perfect condition with absolutely no signs of corrosion at all. It did not start straight away because whilst fitting the replacement pipe the fuel outlet pipe was dislodged (Warning it easily unclips).
I eventually plugged the pipe back in and the bike fired straight away.

On arriving home the GS911 was connected and fault history read 10168: Fuel pump faulty. Most likely; fuel pump electronics/ driver. (I know!! I had taken it out to update my Comp software)

- When did it happen? 17-09-2011- Where were you?: At the bottom of the mountain leading up to Sierra Nevada, Granada. Spain.- rider name: Andy Watson (GibGSA)- bike details (model and year) 2008 R1200GS with 38000km on the clock.- remedy: Replaced with a spare one I was carrying after after hearing about the failures from members on this site.- How many days work/holiday did you lose? None managed to fix it on location.- Were there any incidental costs? 117euros that the spare one I had originally cost me.

Luckily I had taken heed of the warnings posted by other members on this site and carried a spare. Otherwise it would have been a tow truck to a garage in Granada which wouldn't have opened till Monday.

When did it happen? 22-09-2011- Where were you?: At home, left the bike out in some heavy rain overnight.- rider name: Mick (Releng) - bike details (model and year) 2008 R1200GS with 79000km on the clock.- remedy: I pulled the Piece of crap apart and bypassed it, the same as the last picture on this page: Motorcycle info page- How many days work/holiday did you lose? None, took the wifes car. - Were there any incidental costs? No, not yet, although I will have to get another one I suppose.

Maybe we should start one of these pages for drive shaft uni joints. My bike had only had a headlight globe blow in 3 Years and in the last month I have had a uni joint fail and the fuel pump controller. Whats next? This stuff usually happens in threes.

When did it happen? August 2011
- Where were you? Devon (no phone signal)
- bike details (model and year) 2006 GS approved used
- remedy fixed by BMW emergency call out
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 1/2 wondering around looking for phone signal and waiting
- Were there any incidental costs? Free, but they tried to charge me £89
- 3 rd thing to go wrong in 2 months of owning a GS overall cost to BMW for repairs in excess of £4000

just seen this thread so here's mine
when sept 2011
where spanish pyrenees
transported to dealer
R1200rt 2007
costs 50 euro taxi to hotel, then 190 euro taxi to collect bike,190 euro later refunded by AA after complaining to customer service. plus 136 euro for the repair
lost 1 day holidey

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